WK: Power of Nature - S2 - Ep 03 - Love is War
by Taismo-89
Summary: One of Aphrodite's apprentices challenges Tania, wanting to win Chris' love. Tanya feels insecure about this, due to the girl's strenght and smarts, but she'll find out that something MORE is judged on this challenge. Collab with Soul Rider.


A human woman and an earth nymph were talking to each other as they were walking.

"So Ponya, anything new from Aunt Aphrodite?" the nymph asked teasingly.

"Not much today," the human in a pink apprentice dress answered.

Suddenly, she caught sight of a certain statue in the Mystical Garden.

"Wow..."

The nymph looked in the same direction. The specific statue showed a young man heroically wielding a special scepter. He wore a majestic robe and vines holding four gems circled him. She looked at his face and saw that he was very charming with that look of determination.

"Who is that?" Ponya asked the nymph.

"That, is the first Gaia Guardian in our history," she answered. "I believe you were taught about this in normal lessons, right?"

"Yes, but I never paid much attention to them." The nymph sighed.

"Well, his name, is Terra."

"Terra..." she sighed heavily.

Her eyes sparkled. He was gorgeous.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the human world, Chris played with Aidan and Nolan.

The brunette was teaching them how to properly throw the frisbee. So far, they were successful. Unfortunately, Aiden miscalculated his shot and it nearly hit Chris in the head. "Whoops, sorry Chris," he called out.

"I'm okay, didn't get hurt," the Earth Guardian replied, picking up the disc. Unknown to them, a silhouette of a woman was watching.

"So it's true... he's back," she whispered to herself. "And it's just as she described him. *sigh* Still so handsome..."

Suddenly, the silhouette heard a female voice.

"So, are you guys having fun?" Tania asked.

"Yeah, mom!" Aidan said.

"Mommy!" Nolan said.

"Hey, Tania!" Chris greeted, obviously happy to see her. The silhouette took notice of that.

"Who is THAT?" she asked herself, not happy with what she is seeing.

* * *

Aviva observed them both from the roof of the Tortuga and sighed. She still felt something for Chris, and although she was happy he found someone, she was sad about throwing away so foolishly the chance of being with him.

"Still hasn't gone away?" Mina asked, knowing what she was doing.

"No. It's just that... it feels like I've been feeling it for a long time." The hybrid then remembered that conversation she had with Flora.

"I think I know why." Her older sister looked at her, confused. "I once talked to Flora if she ever liked someone and she said that she liked a human from millenniums ago. That he was the first one to ever treat her equally. And she said it was Terra."

"That must be it..." The engineer sighed. "Poor Flora. She was probably still a young nymph when he was killed. I can only imagine how heartbroken she must've been." When she looked through her binoculars, she spotted the silhouette in the shades of the trees. "Wait... who's that girl right there?"

* * *

"Don't hog him for too long, mom!" Aidan teased as he and Nolan moved over to throw the frisbee.

"Aidan!" their mother lightly scolded, her cheeks a little pink. Chris's face was a little pink too.

Suddenly, the frisbee started to float by itself, and floated to a tree branch.

"I'll get it," Chris said. But as he reached the branch, he felt a hand grabbing him and pulling him up.

"Chris?!" Tania asked.

Suddenly, there was a flash. Tania looked to see a note falling. She picked up before it reached the floor.

"The Earth Guardian is mine, lady. You think you can have him only for yourself? I challenge you to a tournament. The winner earns his love forever!" she read it, gasping.

"I need to warn the Tortuga crew."

"Mom, where did Chris go?" Aiden asked worriedly, running up to her with his little brother.

"I'll explain when we get to the Tortuga."

* * *

"Wild Kratts!" Tania called, running to the ship with her sons behind her. Everyone looked in her direction. Laura was present with Martin.

"Tania, what's the matter?" Laura asked her BFF.

"Hey, wasn't Chris with you?" Martin questioned.

"That's what we came to tell! Look!" She showed them the note. The team and Laura gasped.

"Someone took Chris?!"

"I recognize this pink tone of paper," Luna said. "I guess one of Aphrodite's apprentices did this."

"Then we better see her right away," Aviva concluded. Everyone nodded in agreement and Luna summoned a portal to Aphrodite's temple. The crew and the girls and boys followed her.

* * *

Aphrodite was busy tidying a rose garden by her temple. Each colored rose represented a different form of love. There were two special roses that she tended to was most glad of. Two roses were set close to each other. Both had yellow and red petals, but one had a green stem and the other had a blue stem. These roses - at least the yellow petals - represented the brotherly love between the current Earth and Water Guardians.

There were two other roses also growing near them. They were red with gold stems and leaves. One was much closer to Martin's rose and the other was slowly coming closer to Chris's. The red meant love. Like love for another person not related to you. But then, she noticed another red rose coming towards Chris's rose, but it had more thorns on its stem than the other. This made her concerned. It meant that someone else loved the Earth Guardian and wanted to take him.

"Milady..." A butterfly-winged nymph came to see her. "We have some visitors."

* * *

Aphrodite read the note the Wild Kratts showed her.

"I recognize this calligraphy. Ponya wrote this letter."

"Ponya?" Martin questioned. It sounded too much much like the name of a girl in one of those Japanese movies. Not to mention it had an eerie resemblance to Tania's name.

"While not one of my most knowledgeable apprentices, Ponya is one of my most well trained. Though, she can be a little stubborn at times and often challenges others over something she likes."

"And it's obvious that she likes Chris," Koki pointed out. The goddess of love's thought went back to the invading rose.

"So it was HER rose that was growing..."

"She likes Chris?" Tania asked. "But why?"

"I think because she saw his previous self's statue." The nymph that talked with Ponya appeared.

"Huh?" Laura, Tania and her kids said at the same time.

"It's a long story, guys," Martin responded to them. "But there's a statue of Terra?" he asked.

"Yes, in the Mystical Garden," Aphrodite explained. "It was made after Terra's Gaia Guardian coronation."

"Part of normal lessons is the history of The First Guardians," the nymph told them. "And Ponya was most interested in him. When she saw his statue... I think she fell in love."

"But then, she's in love with Terra! Not Chris!" Tania said, angry that she took her "boyfriend" for someone that was probably dead. The earth nymph nervously chuckled and sweat-dropped.

"Well, about that... she heard from others that Terra had been reincarnated into the new Earth Guardian. So she dashed off to search for him. And I guess he still looked the same as when he did years ago and she took the chance to make him hers."

"She'll be disappointed," Aviva said. "Chris already likes someone." She looked at Tania, sighing.

"So, how does this challenge work?" Tania asked.

"Tests of resistance," the nymph stated. "Which tests, you'll only know when you speak with the challenger."

* * *

Ponya, dressed in a woman warrior uniform, waited for Tania to arrive at the Mystical Garden. She looked over at Chris, who was unconscious at the moment and was laid against the statue of Terra. She stared lovingly at his features. He really was the most gorgeous person she ever laid eyes on.

"Once I win, you're all mine," she said to herself.

"You sound so sure of yourself, even when we haven't even started," she heard someone argue. The apprentice turned around and saw Tania, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. The team as well as the earth nymph and Aphrodite were behind her. "No one steals Chris from anyone, especially me."

"You mess with him, you mess with all of us!" Martin said.

"Stand back, Nature Guardians. This is just between me and Ms. Googly-Eyes here."

Tania clenched her fists in anger. She hated when people mocked her for her glasses, which unfortunately, happened really often.

"As you know, I accept your challenge." She looked over at Chris. "And I'll make sure I win. For you Chris." She focused back to the challenger. "What's the first challenge, Ponya?"

Ponya simply smirked.

* * *

"Athletics." Ponya showed to them her training room: it just looked like the Olympics' set. "As love spreaders, Aphrodite makes sure we're in shape. And I guess that's the last thing you are now." She pressed Tania's belly.

The girl in glasses growled.

"I believe I'm fit enough to take you down!" she said, swatting her hand away. She had been redressed into a green sports shirt and navy blue sports shorts. On her feet were white running shoes. The others were on the bleachers. Martin had Chris's head laying on his lap while he was still out.

"All right. It's going to be a race and a show of power and skill. We start here where we're standing. Then, we run and jump over the hurdles. That's part one. Part two is javelin throw and long jump to show power. And lastly, the trampoline and the balance beam to show skill and reflex."

"Fine. Let us begin!" Tania said.

*BG music: The Cars - You Might Think*

Ponya and Tania went through all the challenges, but Ponya defeated her in most of them.

Some objects seemed heavier or higher for the girl in glasses.

Mina thought that was really weird, and secretly snuck out of there to keep an eye on the challenges. Ponya really made certain objects heavier for Tania, and this was clearly cheating.

"I heard about doing anything for love, but that's just mean," she thought.

Tania breathed heavily, exhausted.

"We're almost tied, girl," Ponya said. "ALMOST. As you can see, my skills are waaay better than yours."

Aphrodite saw everything and felt that surely was something wrong. Chris started to wake up, dizzy.

Martin was the first to notice. "Chris! You're awake!" he announced. Aiden and Nolan came over to check on him. The three helped him sit up, with him holding his head with one hand.

"What happened?" he asked. "Last thing I remember was being grabbed and pulled into a tree."

"Let's just say there's a love-off over you, bro."

"Huh?" Chris looked to see Tania staring angrily at Ponya, as she breathed heavily. "What? Am I some kind of trophy here?"

"Actually one of them does like you for real, and the other just thinks you're attractive." Mina explained. "Ponya cheated to make Tania lose, guys. But I can't tell anything at loud. She'll deny everything I say."

"Oh, boy..." Laura commented.

"Since you're nearly drawed, I believe the best way to solve this is through the final test," Aphrodite told them. "Chris, come here for a second, please?"

The Kratt in green obeyed immediately, and smiled as Aphrodite whispered her idea in his ear.

Meanwhile, Tania sighed heavily. "I can't win against her, Laura. She's way stronger and faster than me," she said.

"Aw, come on! Don't tell me you're giving up!"

"Mom, do this. For Chris," Aidan said.

"But... I feel like it's... unfair. I mean, we're talking about a person's feelings, not about a silly trophy."

"Looks like your opponent doesn't care a bit about that," Laura observed. "All she knows about Chris is that he's good looking. Of course, not as good looking as Martin." She smiled at her boyfriend. Martin lightly blushed at that and averted his gaze a bit. Laura looked back at her friend. "But other than that, she knows nothing. You still have a chance."

"I don't know..." Tania sighed.

"Okay, you all. Let's all head to the last challenge," Aphrodite said.

* * *

They were close to a small trench, and on the other side of it, there was a finish line.

"Okay, girls. This is the last challenge. The one that'll determine the winner," Aphrodite said. Chris joined the girls, ready to run. "The first one to cross the trench and climb to the finish line with your partner wins."

"Partner? I don't need a partner!" Ponya thought out loud. "I can win by myself."

"On your marks... get set..." Koki and Jimmy said. "GO!" The girls and Chris ran close to them, knocking one on top of the other. They blushed before standing up.

Tania and Ponya climbed down the trench, with Chris following them.

Tania looked over her shoulder, a little worried about Chris. Then she focused forward, but not completely. She still had worries going through her head. Worry about losing not just the challenge, but also Chris forever. The woman in glasses was so focused in her thoughts that she didn't see the ditch coming up.

"Tania! Look ahead!" Chris called, snapping her out of it. She had enough time to jump over, as well as Ponya and Chris.

But what they didn't notice was the crumbling sound upon them, caused by Chris's alert. Soon, a part of the trench crumbled, making rocks fall all around them.

Tania and Ponya ran quickly, eventually undoing the girl in glasses' ponytail, but when the dust disappeared, while Ponya ran to the finish line, Tania looked back to see something terrible: Chris was fainted under all those rocks, and seemed severely wounded.

"CHRIS!" She ran to see him, dropping her glasses. "Chris, speak to me!" She held his face carefully.

"Ugh... T-Tania?" Chris recognized her voice.

"Don't worry! You'll be okay!" She rushed to try moving the biggest of rocks from there.

"Tania... d-don't worry about me... you need to... defeat her..."

"I don't care a bit about this competition now! You gotta... be... okay!" Tania growled, succeeding in moving the rock a bit, calling Chris's attention.

* * *

Aviva and Aphrodite observed everything with their binoculars. Then, they saw the rocks down there.

"Oh, no! You think something bad happened to..."

"Look! Here comes Ponya!" Laura noticed the apprentice reaching the finish line.

"Yes! I won!" Ponya cheered.

"But where's... wait!" Aviva saw Tania carrying a severely wounded Chris. She was tired, and it was hard for her to see anything without her glasses, but nothing would make her stop now.

As she and Chris crossed the finish line, the team, especially Martin, rushed over to help them. Martin took Chris off of Tania to look over his injured brother.

Laura held her up, her legs weak from the challenge. However, Tania staggered over to where Martin was kneeling, holding Chris's upper body up. She collapsed to her knees beside him.

"Ch-Chris, will you be okay?" she weakly asked him.

"I... I think so," Chris said.

"Well, finally you're here. Guess I won this competition, so this means his love is mine now. Isn't that right, milady?" Ponya mocked Tania and looked at Aphrodite.

"Not exactly," the Goddess of Love said. This answer surprised both of the girls.

"What? But I reached the line first!"

"True. You did reach the line first. But without your PARTNER."

Tania understood. Chris was the partner, not her.

"She's right! Tania was the only one that crossed the line with her partner," Martin realized.

"Chris and I planned to see if you really cared for him. But that part where Chris got stuck wasn't a part of it," Aphrodite admitted. "That wasn't supposed to happen. But it more proved that Tania cared about him."

"This means..." Tania's eyes glowed. "I won?"

Chris sat up, not caring about the bruises all over his body.

"Not only the competition... but since we met... you won my heart."

He caressed her face calmly, and kissed his winner firmly. Tania, realizing this was a yes, shed some tears of joy while kissing Chris back.

The Wild Kratts observed that scene, happy for them. Ponya just stared at them in shock.

A tear went down her face as she retreated. But she wasn't the only one that had a tear. Aviva was surprised by the tear that came from herself.

_'I guess this is for the best,'_ a voice in her head said sadly.

"Huh?" The Hispanic looked around. She realized the voice sounded like hers.

_'He deserves her. Goodbye, Terra.'_ The usage of the name made everything click into place to her.

_'Flora?'_ she asked through thought.

Aphrodite was going to go after her apprentice, but Tania called her attention.

"Wait. I know this kind of feeling. She won't feel the same for a while, but I'm sure that as much as I accepted the fact that my previous love was gone, she'll accept this as well."

"You do know a lot about love, don't you?" The blonde goddess smiled.

"Trust me... as Shakespeare said: It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all," Tania said. Aviva heard these words and thought for a moment.

* * *

Later, in Apollo's temple, Chris recovered from his injuries as he was helped by the team.

"He'll soon recover himself, dear niece," the sun god said.

"Thanks, Uncle Apollo," Mina said.

Aviva saw Tania putting her glasses back on. Laura had found them back in the rock pile.

"Um... Tania... can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure Aviva. What's up?"

"Um... well..." She took a deep breath.

"Is it about your feelings for Chris?"

"*gasp* Did he..."

"No... I kinda realized it by myself."

"You did?"

"I saw your expression when me and Chris were together. All the times, you seemed... sad. Tell me, Aviva... do you still feel something for him?"

"I don't know anymore, Tania. I was dumb enough to not notice when HE was liking me like that... and now I realize... that me and him would never go well."

"Huh?"

"I saw Ponya's behavior... and saw me in her. Over-competitive, full of herself... caring more about her own business than her friends..." Tears formed in Aviva's eyes. "That's not the kind of girl Chris deserves. He really deserves someone like you." She smiled at Tania. "You're always there by his side, protecting him and wanting him to be happy... by being just the way he is."

Tania smiled with those words.

"After you said that beautiful thing to Aphrodite, I finally realized that suffering about the chance I lost will not solve anything."

"Aviva..."

"Promise me that you'll take good care of him, okay?" She held out a hand.

"Promise." Tania took her hand and they shook on it.

* * *

That night, Chris and Tania observed the stars.

"Are you okay, darling?" Chris asked.

"I couldn't be better." Tania smiled at him. "I really thought I would never accept Craig's death... but you brought me a chance to continue my life."

Chris blushed a bit at that and smiled. He casually wrapped an arm around her back to pull her closer to him. They then made eye contact before their lips met.

Down below, Martin and Laura were observing.

"Little bro's all grown up as of now," he commented. His girlfriend leaned onto his side, a tear of joy running down.

"And Tania is finally fully happy," she added. The two laced their hands together.

Aviva looked at both happy couples. She felt surprisingly happy.

"You know what? If HE's happy... I guess I can be happy too. And maybe one day... I'll find the same kind of happiness they have." She felt another part of her smile as well. She guessed that it was probably Flora, finally getting over Terra and letting him go.


End file.
